Bodog Political Proposition Bets - President Bush Vetoes

Bodog.com has a couple of new political bets.

U.S. President George W. Bush has threatened to veto up to 16 bills which the new Democrat led Congress has considered passing. After years of being called obstructionists, the Democrats control the agenda and want to force the president to either acquiesce on some of their issues, or be forced to obstruct in his turn.

THE WAR IN IRAQ

The largest issue on the Congressional agenda is the Iraq War. The Democrats voted to extend funding to U.S. forces in the war, but included a provision forcing the administration to set a withdrawal date for U.S. troops.

President Bush has said he will veto any bill which sets such a time table for withdrawal. His administration claims this would embolden the insurgents and demoralize U.S. allies in Iraq, including the Iraqi government and armed forces.

Opponents of the continued Iraqi action claim that an open-ended commitment has fostered a sense of apathy on our Iraqi allies, who have no sense of urgency in building their security forces or political consensus.

This is only one of the issues which the president has threatened to veto. The list of other potential vetoes included an entire range of issues on which the two parties disagree. All in all, he has threatend up to sixteen vetoes.

Which brings us to the Bodog bets. This bet runs from April 30, 2007 to December 31, 2007.

THE ACTION

The first proposition wager concerns how many bills President Bush will veto in the remainder of 2007. Here are the options and odds.

1-2 - 3/1
3-4 - 5/2
5-6 - 7/2
7-8 - 9/2
9-10 - 5/1
11+ - 3/1

The second bet asks: will the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate override any of George W. Bush's vetoes in 2007?

Yes +375 No -650

Don't waste your money on this one. I see absolutely no chance that Congress overrides a veto this year.

With only a bare majority, the Congress simply doesn't have the votes to override a veto. To do so, 2/3rds of each house of Congress would have to support the bill.

IT'S A MATTER OF NUMBERS

In the Senate, the Democrats have a 51-49 majority. That means 16 of the 49 Republicans would have to support a bill against the wishes of the president. A similar percentage of Republicans would have to split with their party in the House of Representatives to override the veto.

That is next to impossible in my mind. Bush would have to roll out a truly insane veto for this to happen. It's just not going to happen.

If you want to plop down your $50 on this bet, which is the maximum amount you can bet, this will be the easiest $15 you'll ever make.

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Bodog Political Proposition Bets - President Bush Vetoes